Looking for a guilt-free night out for dinner and drinks with friends or family- check out Gordon Biersch. There’s a location at the Shops at Legacy in Plano and one in Dallas off Park Lane and 75. I was looking forward to checking out their Light Menu and Skinny Cocktails, and was presently surprised by the offering. However, I will say that the food choices are very “diet.” What was great about the menu, was that I could enjoy a weekend night out on the patio for dinner while sipping cocktails and not worrying about calorie counting.
To begin, the skinny cocktails menu was very impressive drink-wise with four fun choices all under 125 calories, but also very pricey. (Note- my mom always told me that for weight loss, there’s no price!- so sip and enjoy!) I tried the Strawberry Soda. It was light, fruity and refreshing. The Strawberry Soda is made with Strawberry Rum, Sugar Free Triple Sec, mint leaves and fresh strawberries (pictured below)! I’ve also tried their Skinny Margarita in the past. It’s pretty good, but On The Border still gets my vote for the best skinny margarita. The Skinny Cocktails menu also includes a skinny mojito and a skinny cosmo. They are on my “to try” list!
For appetizers, we munched on the margarita flatbread. The crispy pizza was a great choice (pictured below, curiosity of the Gordon Biersch website.) It’s light and tasty with large slices of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The whole flatbread has 430, so when split between 4 people, it’s not too shabby for a pre-dinner munchie. Another guilt-free appetizer choice (which I’ve had in the past, but not on this visit) would be the Southwest Egg Rolls (pictured below, curiosity of the Gordon Biersch website). The order comes with 4 rolls to share with friends. Each 135 (estimated) crispy roll is filled with pulled chicken, corn, peppers and cheese. (Note- stay away from the dipping sauce. Unneeded calories!)
As I mentioned earlier, the food choices on the Lighter Side menu are not spectacular, but they do allow you to enjoy a fun night out totally guilt-free, unlike many other restaurants in “fun” areas. I had the Mediterranean Chicken (pictured below) and Eric had the Creole Chicken. They were pretty much the same – grilled chicken, veggies, and rice. The Mediterranean Chicken is topped with tomatoes, garlic and basil. The meal has 430 calories. The Creole Chicken is topped with a spicy jambalaya sauce. This meal has 420 calories. Like I said, both were tasty. Nothing amazing, but great for a healthy dinner out. Their Lighter Side menu also has a stir fry option and a chicken cashew option, but they are higher in calories and probably not worth it- for the extra 200 calories, I’d rather head over to red mango for some fro-yo after dinner!
All and all, not a bad choice for a fun night out! What’s great, is that the restaurant offers their full nutritional info online. Check it out here: http://www.gordonbiersch.com/restaurants
